A father and daughter were killed as they tried to escape a fast-moving brush fire that raced through a Riverside County canyon this week.
Ian Matthew Compton and daughter Mikayla Porter died Monday in the Fairview Fire near Hemet, family members said. Compton's wife remains hospitalized with critical injuries, brother Tim Chitwood told NBCLA.
"They started taking off, and I guess they had car problems," Chitwood said after visiting his sister in the hospital. Chitwood said a neighbor who also is a firefighter rescued his sister from the disabled car. When the firefighter tried to rescue Compton and Porter, flames overran the car, he said.
"The firefighter pulled the door open, and then they yanked her out and pulled her away," said Chitwood. "The fire just got so close, it just engulfed the car."